A Protestant Ambassador to the Vatican?

The LA Times has seen to fit to publish the following piece about President Obama’s current woes in finding an ambassador to the Holy See. While the opinion piece discusses the most rational ways of choosing an ambassador and the importance of finding one for the Holy See, the kicker of the entire article was the final sentence:

Ideally Obama would send a career diplomat to the Vatican, but if he insists on making a political appointment he can avoid the abortion litmus-test problem by naming a Protestant, a Jew, a Muslim — or an atheist.

The question, of course, does not simply hinge on the issue of abortion. Obama must select a candidate that is also a practicing Catholic and a man or woman worthy of a post to the Holy See. As far as I can tell such candidates are few and far between in most political circles since there are many “Catholic” candidates for public office, who either publicly support abortion or have other views that are controversial in the eyes of the Holy See.

I believe that sending a Catholic to the Holy See shows that the president has made a carefully, deliberated choice. After all, wouldn’t the Pope do the same if he was sending an ambassador to the United States? Wouldn’t the Holy Father think about the kind of person that he would send here? Food for thought, isn’t it?